Any thoughts on which is the best game to play. I'm kinda leaning away from Metroid Prime for now because I know it'll have a lot of backtracking and I got my fill of that with Warrior Within. KotOR 2 doesn't sound appealing right now because I'm getting 2003 deja vu from all these sequels I've finished lately.

Due to circumstances, I've got next week off with no plans (girlfriend took a new job so our vacation was nixed), so I'm looking for a deep, great game that I can really get into. Any thoughts? Feel free to suggest games that aren't on the list, as well.

Well you are kinda picky since you want to dump two of the choices (MP2, and KOTOR2).

Personally I would have said MP2. It is great if you loved the first one and while it does have some backtracking it is the fun kind. I love being able to go to someplace I remember with a new ability and getting something that was unavailable to me before.

Also in MP2 some of the backtracking is between light and dark "worlds" which should make it more fun.

I would wait for KoToR2 if you have a PC which will be able to play it. I am not a very tough grader for games but the slowdowns in KoToR2 really piss me off. I mean come on!

I would also recomend Paper Mario. I am playing it while juggeling MP2, and KoToR2 and it is probably the one that pulls me the most. It is just so much fun, and yet deep.

Well you are kinda picky since you want to dump two of the choices (MP2, and KOTOR2).

Personally I would have said MP2. It is great if you loved the first one and while it does have some backtracking it is the fun kind. I love being able to go to someplace I remember with a new ability and getting something that was unavailable to me before.

Also in MP2 some of the backtracking is between light and dark "worlds" which should make it more fun.

I would wait for KoToR2 if you have a PC which will be able to play it. I am not a very tough grader for games but the slowdowns in KoToR2 really piss me off. I mean come on!

I would also recomend Paper Mario. I am playing it while juggeling MP2, and KoToR2 and it is probably the one that pulls me the most. It is just so much fun, and yet deep.

Baten Kaitos is very good, although the first 45 minutes is waiting for them to take the training wheels off the game.

KOTOR2 is an excellent choice, but it *will* give you that deja vu feeling.

I hear Mechassault 2 has a pretty damned good story to it, and it's out the week between christmas and new years. Since the design has changed I don't think you're going to get deja vu.

Mario Party 6 is effen huge. One game lasts like, 6 hours. That could easily kill your time and it is a blast to play... as long as you have someone to play with. A buddy of mine and I played it for 7+ hours, and we had 2 cpu's set on easy AI.... should have been "retarded AI"... it was a 3 on 1 minigame where I had to hit A as fast as possible to inflate my balloon, and they had to work together to (which his AI "helpers" stood there) ... I almost peed laughing so hard... he was freakin' out pounding on the controller; he went from 0 to bitch in like, 3 seconds... I almost lost.

In retrospect, stay away from mario party (with easy AI), unless you have a stockpile of "Depends" you need to get through.

A Bard's Tale was pretty engaging too; I'd recommend it for a 3 day rental, or a bargain bin purchase.

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"If it weren't for Philo T. Farnsworth, inventor of television, we'd still be eating frozen radio dinners." - Johnny Carson

Well, I have played 4 out of the 5. But, the one I haven't played is a FPS and the rest are all role playing games. So whether you play that one or not depends on which kind of game you feel like playing. KOTOR only takes about 50 hours max, Star Ocean is more like 100 so that might matter. I am still playing Growlancer up to about 30 hours. I played about 14 hours of Baiten Kaitos and I thought it was lousy. The card combat is terrible. Star Ocean started out great but the second half of the game lost me, I still finished and I would still recommend the game but very unsatisfying. Had fun with KOTOR but it also has problems. Growlancer I am having fun with. Can't really go too wrong with any of those 3.

I'd go with Growlanser or Star Ocean. Growlanser is a lot of fun and between II and III should offer plenty to keep you occupied over a long week. Star Ocean is one of my favorite games of the year though it does have a few noticeable shortcomings, almost all of which are concentrated in the first 5-10 hours of play. Its got a good 75-100 hours of gaming to keep you occupied too.

KOTOR II is definitely heavy on the deja vu. I'm very much looking forward to the PC version because the Xbox edition does little for me.

Star Ocean is the best game I've played this year. I'm about 25 hours in, and I love everything about it. The graphics are amazing (not technically, but the art design, variety, and amount of detail are incredible), the voice acting is some of the best I've heard (at least from the 3 lead characters), the battle system is fun, and the story is very good as well as thought-provoking, with some great, emotional scenes. Plus, it's very long, with a lot of extra things to do, so it will keep you going for a long time.

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"Why did the chicken cross the Mobius strip? To get to the same side." - The Big Bang Theory

I'm about 16 hours into Growlanser III and am having an absolute blast. It does have a really old-school feel to it, so depending on your tastes that might be a turn off.

Haven't played Baten Kaitos or KotOR2 yet (Mrs. Gratch has hinted that it will be an X-Mas present), but was thoroughly unimpressed with Star Ocean 3. I guess I'm the complete opposite of EddiieA because I thought the graphics were bland, the voice acting was horrible, the story was juvenille, and the battle system was not fun in the least. It is a front-runner for my Coaster of the Year at this point.

With a whole week to put into it, you should play Growlanser and then write a detailed review here. I need to know whether I should buy it myself. Be sure to make comparisons to other current games, notably the Nippon Ichi SRPGs and the PS1 Arc the Lad games. Thanks for doing my homework for me :wink:

However, if I had a week to give a game from your list, I'd probably put it into Star Ocean 3.

Well, it sounds like it's between Star Ocean and Growlanser then. I'm leaning toward Growlanser, simply because it seems like the most unique game on the list and I know next to nothing about it, other then high level details about the style of game. Thanks everybody, for the opinions. Now, I just need to finish my Christmas shopping so that I have no distractions for next week.

Quote from: "farley2k"

I would also recomend Paper Mario. I am playing it while juggeling MP2, and KoToR2 and it is probably the one that pulls me the most. It is just so much fun, and yet deep.

Already finished Paper Mario. I think it's one of the best games released this year. Fun, and addicting. A tip if you're just starting: Don't neglect the troubles. They're very rewarding.

I think the troubles just open up for you now. There's a house in the east side of Rogueport where you can select the troubles you want to take on. I think the house is locked in the first part of the game.

As for a walkthrough, honestly, there is so much fun and unexpected stuff that happens in this game that I'd recommend just playing through it for the experience. You can go back to any area at any time so if you miss soemthing you can always go back for it. Also, the game lets you continue playing after you win the game so you can complete any side quests that you haven't finished. In fact, some new side quests open up after you beat the final battle.

Yeah, it would be a shame to use a walkthrough for Paper Mario 2. Tons of secrets and other stuff but the game plays fair with their location so that just a bit of inquisitiveness on the player's part is sufficient.

If you know you want to get Growlanser, I wouldn't hesitate. Working Designs' games become rare much faster than most others. You might as well get it new now, since Star Ocean isn't going to become rare, and will most likely get Greatest Hits status next year sometime.

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"Why did the chicken cross the Mobius strip? To get to the same side." - The Big Bang Theory